Bushfire Inquiry: consistent concerns

Submissions to the State Parliamentary Inquiry into the impact of Public Land Management Practices on Bushfires in Victoria contain many consistent messages and recurring themes according to Bill Sykes, Nationals Spokesperson for Police & Emergency Services.

Dr Sykes attended the Inquiry’s public hearing at Mansfield this week and listened to submissions from Mansfield Shire, grape growers, CFA members and local land owners/managers.

Dr Sykes said, “Key messages included:-

• the massive impact on the local economy caused by reduced tourist visitation to the area at what should have been a peak time. This problem was exacerbated by ill informed and sensationalised misreporting by some media;

• the massive economic impact on the grape industry due to smoke damage of grapes. Losses of tens of millions of dollars were experienced in 2007 due to smoke damage and there is serious concern about retaining large wine maker preparedness to purchase wine from the area if it is going to continue to be fire/smoke prone;

• there is general support for fuel reduction burning with a need for good communication between DSE/CFA and local businesses in relation to minimising tourist impact and smoke damage to grapes;

• the reduction in skilled man power to fight fires is a major concern associated with decreased numbers of timber workers and cattlemen as a result of Government policies, and alpine resorts not yet being significant all year round resorts meaning that there are few residents available to fight fires in the fire season;

• pine plantations had losses in excess of $25m in 2006/07. There are concerns about Government failure to maintain adequate permanent containment lines, especially around plantations and the failure to provide water sources on Crown Land for helicopters and fire trucks;

• the failure to fully use local knowledge and centralisation of decision making for operational activities such as back burning resulted in missed opportunities due to delays and poor choice of options;

• the ABC’s role in communication is excellent but at times their information is several hours out of date thus limiting its usefulness, particularly for those in potential crisis situations;

• maps vary in quality, readability and information on key issues such as the standard of access roads and presence of assets worthy of protection;

• a lot of time is lost in ‘cool changeovers’ when fire crews leave the fire front and are not replaced for several hours – often during prime fire containment time. More ‘hot changeovers’ were called for;

• road block management must ensure local people are able to return to protect their assets;

• there is massive use of CFA equipment which is predominantly funded by the fire services levy paid by private land holders who insure their properties. This was considered unjust when so much of the activity was on public land;

• management of earthmoving contractors at times showed inexperience on the part of DSE staff; and

• post fire concerns include the massive number of burnt trees which are poised to fall over – often onto major roadways in the next few years.”

Dr Sykes concluded, “The Inquiry into the impact of Public Land Management Practices on Bushfires in Victoria, initiated by The Nationals, has all party support. I was impressed with the quality of the submissions and the manner in which Parliamentary Committee members sought additional information.
“I look forward to the Committee report containing many important recommendations which the Government will hopefully adopt in order to improve public land management to reduce risks of fire to protect both public and private assets and the habitat of millions of native plants and animals.

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